What do you do when you “step on a Lego®”?

“I hope you step on a Lego®” has become one of the most popular curses on the internet with a large number of “memes” invoking the phrase (1) on the internet.

Stepping on a Lego® block while barefoot is often described as being very painful (2), which is a good way to describe what happens when you overstep the rules in internet marketing.

Different social media outlets have varying criteria of what they do and don’t allow, and other means of advertising have their own sets of guidelines. Google’s AdWords takes following their guidelines and best practices seriously, and incorporates how well a company does so as a part of the algorithm which determines how high their ads appear on searches for which they are relevant.

The amount which an advertiser bids for ad placement does not outweigh their boundaries (3).

While the penalties can vary, you can usually rectify the situation and minimize the damage with simple steps:

Identify what the problem is with what you are doing. Often, the venue will tell you what it is, and may even have people on staff who will tell you specifically what needs to be fixed and how to fix it so that it fits into their standards.

Fix the problem. This is not the time to argue your position. They have their standards of what they want on their site, and those standards usually supercede any money which would be made by running an ad or allowing a post to be made.

Inform the venue that you have fixed the problem and ask them to reconsider. Once your promotion fits into what they want, they will usually get you back into the mix soon thereafter.